WORT 2020

Look below and you’ll see 14 individual posts to acquaint you with the proposals that have been developed by WORT’s Long Range Planning Committee with the help of five work groups over the past several months. These proposals were presented in a public session on Wednesday, March 28th at the Goodman Community Center. We had a great turnout with over 50 people attending and offering critical feedback on the proposals. Written comments that were turned in at the end of the session are in the process of being posted here as comments in each of the 14 proposal posts.

All comments posted by Tuesday, April 10th will be taken into consideration by the Long Range Planning Committee as it prepares its final Long Range Plan document. The Long Range Plan will be presented to the WORT Board of Directors at the April 18th Board Meeting.

The results of the plan presentation to the Board as well as the timeline for implementation of the adopted proposals will be posted on this WORT2020 Blog.

So…get comfortable and start below!

1) Build new audience measurement metrics and tracking; attend to demographics in how we engage listeners.

WORT must commit the resources necessary to acquire and monitor audience metrics and utilize the data to broaden our audience and improve listener engagement.

2) Develop a comprehensive training curriculum for WORT Board of Directors

There has been a history of unfulfilled objectives and prolonged projects which could be completed more efficiently if the board of directors is effectively trained in its leadership responsibilities. The Board of Directors should understand that it acts as a management group and must be willing to assert its authority when appropriate and when specific goals must be reached. If the Board was better oriented and had a clearer understanding of its role and responsibilities the LRPC believes the station would be more effective in meeting its mission in the community.

In order to move all of this forward, certain basic things need to be done. More funds should be allocated for personnel development for Staff (and Board). Community resources should be sought for outside training (especially of Board). Also better peer evaluation tools need to be developed.

3) Advance strategic, broader-reaching fundraising methods and in-kind partnerships

WORT must find ways to bolster finances and develop additional partnerships that will help reduce other costs and strain on staff time.

4) Articulate new programs and pathways for programs on WORT

The station need to develop steps and a timeline for bringing good program ideas from the idea stage to “On Air” in a timely manner. This includes using the FM signal as well as the station’s website, webstream(s), podcasts, HD signal(s), mobile apps and other media. Currently, there is no predictable, intentional way to bring a desirable new program to the airwaves at any time. Program slots generally only open up when a programmer passes away or moves. Program slots are often filled in a ‘crisis response’ mode, upon the sudden or impending departure of a programmer. New people who have a program idea for WORT can’t get a clear answer about when – or if – they can get on the air. The station’s program schedule tends to be fairly static.

5) Review Job Descriptions and Redistribute Duties

The committee felt that all of the current staff positions are too large. Recommendations varied from splitting certain jobs into two, to adding assistants (could be paid part-time, workstudy, interns, or volunteers) to existing jobs, to creating whole new positions. In each specific case, changes may depend on available funds and may be grown into or scaled up,
but some action needs to be taken immediately for each position. Project Managers could be hired as LTEs to see specific projects through from start-to-finish such as: Capital Campaign; Building Remodel, Website Launch, or even New Program Schedule Launch.

6) Develop volunteer programming training curriculum

WORT relies on using volunteers to create nearly all of its programming. With the station on the air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, that’s a lot of content and a lot of volunteers. Many volunteers come to the station with few audio skills and come seeking to learn. We need a detailed, organized plan for bringing a new station volunteer from “total newbie” to a confident, experienced, skilled DJ, news reporter, producer, talk show host, or engineer in a positive, supportive environment. We must update our Volunteer Intake Process. All new volunteers should have to go through a mandatory orientation. All new news volunteers should have to go through specific training sessions. The station should hold periodic, regular training sessions on broadcast mechanics (voicing/announcing, interviewing, scriptwriting, ethics, etc). The station should hold periodic, regular training on blogging, social media, and multimedia formats.